The Broadway premiere of Network celebrated its opening night at the Belasco Theatre December 6. The multimedia-driven production, directed by Tony and Olivier Award winner Ivo van Hove, stars Bryan Cranston (a Tony winner for All The Way) as Howard Beale, reprising his performance following an Olivier-winning turn at London’s National Theatre last season.
The cast of the play by Lee Hall (adapted from Paddy Chayefsky’s Oscar-winning screenplay for the 1976 drama) also includes Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black) as Diana Christensen, Tony Goldwyn (Scandal) as Max Schumacher, and Tony winner Frank Wood (Side Man) as Nelson Chaney.
Read what critics thought of the Broadway bow in the reviews below. Playbill will continue to update this list as more reviews come in.
Broadway News (Charles Isherwood)
The Hollywood Reporter (David Rooney)
New York Magazine/Vulture (Sara Holdren)
The New York Post (Joe Dziemianowicz)
New York Stage Review (Melissa Rose Bernardo) (David FInkle)
The New York Times (Ben Brantley)
The Philadelphia Inquirer (Toby Zinman)
Theater News Online (David Cote) (Jeremy Gerard)
Time Out New York (Adam Feldman)
The Wall Street Journal (Terry Teachout)
The play follows the unexpected rise and fall of news anchor Howard Beale, who unravels live on screen during his final broadcast. When the ratings soar, the network seizes on the opportunity to exploit the populist prophet.
Rounding out the company are Joshua Boone as Frank Hackett, Alyssa Bresnahan as Louise Schumacher, Ron Canada as Edward Ruddy, Julian Elijah Martinez as Harry Hunter, Nick Wyman as Arthur Jensen, Barzin Akhavan, Jason Babinsky, Camila Canó-Flaviá, Eric Chayefsky, Gina Daniels, Nicholas Guest, Joe Paulik, Susannah Perkins, Victoria Sendra, Henry Stram, Bill Timoney, Joseph Varca, Nicole Villamil, and Jeena Yi.
The production features music and sound design by Eric Sleichim, sets and lighting by Jan Versweyveld, costumes by An D’Huys, and video design by Tal Yarden. Casting is by Telsey + Company.
